Couldn't be Easier
by Risus-Gaudi
Summary: There are so many things that he could do, and so many things that they can't. Yet, it seems like these young adults can't seem to find a job that's worth their while, what's up with that? And it all starts out with the silliest raven of all... AkuRoku, SoRiku, Clack, Cleon, Zemyx, and so on. As always, it's a yaoi, if you don't like it, then look to the next story!
1. Chapter 1

The raven knew that it was never going to be easy. Every day he saw the same competitive stores, the same high prices, the same bargain deals. And every time, he knew that it would never end well. But, what he took into consideration about the whole ordeal was that, it's –self proclaiming– up to him to bring in the most customers and put the rest of the stores out of business. So, the raven knew what was going to happen, and he knew what he decided to put his... Rather helpless life on the line for –if he had a need for his life in the first place, but that doesn't matter– and found his way to the front door of his 2 year long job.

2 years is a lot to work at a place like this, you'd think by now that he'd quit, but no, he's actually a _people-person_. Which is –undeniably– something that you don't get often in the work-fields now a days.

This raven has spunk. He knows how to put up with people and still keep a grin on his face. This raven is an attraction to the people around him, and he somehow manages to draw in more customers –vultures being lied to– to come and look at the objects that they have in stock.

This raven is none other than the boy named Zack Fair, age 24, and the only man who manages to get young scavengers to come and buy products at his job. As the job is well... Working at a cash register –for the rest of his life– in a shopping district, selling clothes.

Zack inwardly sighed, jingling his keys around his finger with a low-tuned whistle. He walked over and dropped his bag next to the open space under the desk. "Welp. As per-usual, I seem to be the only person here _on time_. When _I'm_ the laziest one that even _works_ here." Zack mumbled somewhat unhappily. "Hey, boss! Are you here yet?!" He yelled, tilting his head back to where his boss's room would be located. After a few minutes of impatient waiting, he came to the realization –accepted the fact– that he's the only person that works diligently –to get his pay–.

By 8:12am, a co-worker of his came along. Ventus Strife, age 21, and the middle of the 3 Strife brothers that Zack oh so –loves– adores. Ventus was the only one who worked at the cheap-paying job, while the youngest brother was the only one that stayed in _college_, and the oldest brother did some type of work somewhere else. But, god, did Zack just adore the Strifes like they were his god –or something close to that– because all he wanted to do is just follow the middle brother home and see the other two –undeniably– sexy brothers wander around in some –possibly very fancy– unpredictable home.

Anywho, the blonde with the spunky hair, Ventus, grinned to his co-worker and made his way over to the cash-register. "So... Anyone else come here yet?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. "It looks pretty dead, not like it doesn't always look dead but... Y-yeah... Think you get the point?"

"I'm always the first person here, I don't get it. I really don't. I hate working, I hate being up, and I'm _here_. Bright and early every morning, I haven't been late. I don't know what's wrong with me." Zack said in such a cluster that Ventus almost couldn't understand –he basically didn't but who really cares?– and he just gave Zack a curt nod of silence.

"I... Have no idea what to do about that, yeah? Okay. Cool. We'll just wait here for some workers.."

So, they did. Waiting. Patiently. For someone, anyone to come.

No matter how much Zack wanted to see his co-worker's family, there was little-to-no way that he would be able to do such a thing without being complete buddy-buddy with Ventus.

God was that hard.

_So hard_.

"So... How's your morning going?" Zack questioned, shooting for some casual conversation.

Ventus shot him an 'are-you-freaking-kidding-me?' look and shrugged to the older man, "Pretty basic if you ask me. Cloud woke me up again by dumping cold water on my face. Roxas laughed, blah blah. Same thing over and over, they need a new routine." Ventus shivered as he shook his head. "Or I just need a new family. Do you live by yourself? Do you have family? Are they annoying? They're annoying aren't they? Why is there the neverending struggle of annoying people? This job is getting to me, I'm tired. I want to go home. I can't help myself anymore. I want to sleep. It's 8 fucking 30 in the morning and I'm standing here with my only friend doing nothing. Because people don't look for clothes in the brightest fucking morning of the day on a fucking Monday morning, _noooo_, they never do. They _never_ do!" The blonde felt himself go on a rant, unable to stop himself from the bubbling anger. "I'm going to blow this popsicle stand."

Zack instantly looked out of one of the windows, for the near-by popsicle stand that –apparently– sold the Strife boys' favorite flavor ice cream, as well as Axels' –which happened to be the same thing– but of course Zack doesn't pay attention to those small facts.

_Yeah right. _

Zack pays attention to everything, he just comes off as an oblivious older male that doesn't listen. _Or so they think_.

The next person to come into the shop was none other than Axel Kasai, age 23 and a complete terror to the pair working at the cash-registers. His entry broke Zack and Ventus' train of thoughts, with his bright red hair pulled into a messy ponytail and him standing by the door taking off his shades. He stood at a pose that screamed _fuck-yeah-I'm-awesome-bow-to-me_, but the pair just stared. Knowing that they wouldn't be able to do much else with the cocky man. At 8:35am, the red-head found himself an hour late to work. Though, their boss hasn't even done as much as make a call for being out, or anything of the sort, Axel's never charged for latenesses. _Sadly_.

Zack's eyebrow raised at the red-headed annoyance and rolled his eyes –unknowingly– as the male made his way and tossed his unneeded bag behind the cash register desk. "Did you see Riku on your way here? Or am I going to have to suffer with you today?"

"Riku's stopping by somewhere to get a drink. I think we should sell food, we'd get more business." Axel replied, shrugging as he browsed –with the intention of probably buying something later– through all the clothes in-front of him. "Whaddaya' think? We could definitely get more business in the mornings so it won't be so empty and shit."

"No way." Zack shook his head, "I'm the only person who gets here on time, or did you forget? The breakfast rush starts at like, 7, which happens to be the time where _I'm_ coming in to get ready for work, then wait hours for you guys to show up to actually do your _jobs_."

"Oh! Idea!" Ventus piped up to say his first thing since Axel walked in, "This place should be... More than just one thing, don't-cha-think?"

Zack felt like the two were working together, everyday, to just somehow annoy him. He was never so testy, –he's rather easygoing– grins are always seen on the boy's face, but for the past 2 years, he's been getting angrier and angrier with the people that he works with. Then again, the only person that gives him any type of mental problem is Axel, anyways. And well, their boss that honestly shouldn't be a boss. Some dude named Wakka, who managed to have the money to somehow _make_ a store of his own to sell clothes. But honestly Zack knew that this was a stupid job, that still had such a god damn good pay, when he realized that Wakka only wanted to make the store for swimwear. As if the people here only goes for swimming. Sure, he'd like to go swimming every now and then, but they don't live where he used to live, so it's different. Completely different. People want actual clothes, regular clothes, Winter, Summer, Spring, Fall clothes. Not... Swimming, what type of clothes would people sanely come and buy swimming clothes for?

Yet somehow, for the past 2 years, Zack stayed, working for Wakka, who only gave Axel free discounts and listened to him when he wanted to complain. In the unfair environment that was plastered into the ground the moment he walks into the clothing store every morning, just to get paid at the end of the week. Every week.

And yet, somehow, for the past 2 years, Zack's kept his pent-up frustration, not wanting to quit.

Today though, today's going to be much different from those past 2 years. Things are changing, and Zack's not going to deal with it anymore.

"I'm leaving." Zack stated, clearly not wanting to be in the clothing store anymore.

"Waddaya' mean?" Axel asked, looking up from his browsing that he started 20 minutes ago.

"I mean, I'm quitting. I'm finding another job."

"Can I come with?" Ventus questioned, "I'm only here for the easy cash." Zack shrugged, looking at the middle Strife. "We should work at a restaurant though, with your good looks, Zack, customers would come crawling to the doors."

"It's because of me that we seem to get service in this damn place too." Zack frowned and picked up his bookbag. "We can look around for some place to start workin' at, of course. It's almost 9am, and I officially have no job." Zack proclaimed, walking to the door, leaving the key to the store on the counter for his boss –Wakka– to come and pick up when he decides that he wants to get to his job. "You comin' with, Axel?" Zack questioned, half-hoping that the red-head's annoying attitude will subside for them to actually get some work done.

"I want to work at Dunkin Donuts." Axel insisted, catching the bag that Ventus tossed to him and made his way to the front door with his co-workers. "Or I mean like, something stupid like Taco Bell or something."

"Fast food joints aren't my thing." Zack shook his head, "I'd rather put my looks to _good_ use." He pointed out, shutting the door behind the three of them and giving one last look to the job that he finally decided to give up, after 2 years of wasting his life.

2\. Fucking. Years.

2 years wasted out of his life.

Then finally, after 2 fucking years, he decided to give up his useless job to search for something that most likely pays less, but it gets better customer service then what he had to deal with before.

"You should be a singer, or a model. Zackary." Ventus piped, a cheerful grin plastered on his face in an attempt to make Zack feel better.

"Singing... Nah, I'm not one for singing... Modeling is just disgusting, and didn't I tell you not to call me Zackary? No one calls me Zackary..." Zack sighed at the –rather unused– name given to him. "What about an amusement park? Or... A G-karting place? Or...–"

"You could actually go to college and learn something, then look for some type of part-time job at a grocery store or some shit."

"Coffee house?" Zack was still offering, ignoring the new voice that came in. Though, he did acknowledge the fact that Riku found his way over to the trio who stood like lost puppies in front of their old job building. "Nah, Coffee house is too cliché for good-looking people such as ourselves. Hey Riku. What about we do something like turn into secret service agents or something cool?!"

"Yeah... Secret Service Agents– Oh hey Riku!" Ventus only just now waved to his silver-haired friend who was holding an iced latte and a small bag filled with unknown goodies. "What's up? Do you have an idea of where we're going to go and work next?"

"Honestly, Coffee houses do seem very cliché but... They get paid, I gotta admit. Or.. Well. We can work at Dunkin Donuts, but that requires a uniform, I don't like... Uniforms.–"

"Why does it have to be a Coffee house? Why can't we work at a bakery?" Ventus questioned, earning an agreeing nod from Axel.

"Do you know how to cook sweets?" Zack questioned rather quickly, earning a nod and an agreeing finger from Riku.

"Bakeries make money too..." Axel tried to defend the good idea.

"Oh! Another idea!" Ventus grinned once more, "A bar! _The Seventh Heaven bar_! A family friend is the boss there, so we're sure to get some jobs that way!"

Zack gave a skeptical look but, if it's a friend of the Strife's, they're a friend of his.

And so, just an hour or so later, the group found themselves looking at the –eventually– new job in front of them, waiting inside _The Seventh Heaven bar_.

* * *

"_You've said enough for both of us,_

_So don't try to deny it, _

_And some things are better left unsaid,_

_But I can't keep this quiet.~_

_Well I'm not one to hold a grudge_

_And hide it from the surface, _

'_Cause every single thing I've ever held against you has a purpose!_

_You're good at starting problems for the hell of it, _

_But our difference is that I don't use my past to make me feel relevant!" _Zack sung along to the song playing that only he could hear. His earbuds plugged into his ears, and he felt himself headbanging to one of his favorite genres of music. Though it was like those generic Emo-kid songs when they can't find their way, he couldn't give two shits. It was catchy, and hell, music made him feel so alive.

It was now, a year later, that Zack Fair, now at the age of 25, sat on the stool in front of the bar's front desk. The cosy shack, or... Bar, as people insist to call it, gained 4 new workers just 1 mere year ago. As well as a now happy boss, that shockingly, Zack was familiar with. Tifa, just about 24 years of age now, and an old schoolmate with Zack and Aerith. Though she was more Aerith's friend, Tifa definitely did know how to take care of herself. But he was sure eventually, this place would become flooded, and she wouldn't be able to take care of it as well as she can anything else. So, he was glad when Ventus offered for them to work there to help her out, and he was sure as hell ecstatic to see an old friend again.

Tifa, on the other hand, after having to deal with Zack's random singing for a year, while the shop opened early in the mornings, –6:30am because of early morning joggers, late-nighters, or College students that have really early classes and need to finish work before getting to their classes– she was unsure if she was still sane, listening to him every single day. Singing something different. It has yet to be the same song, and if it was, she definitely didn't notice.

"Hey, Zack." Tifa called for her old raven-haired friend. The raven paused his music and pulled out his earphones to listen to his boss, "So, _The Seventh Heaven Bar_ has to be renovated, like... We're going to have to make the building bigger, and... Even though we have the money I... Don't know how we should expand it? Should there be a second floor? A bottom floor? Or... Like... Something just to spread it from side to side? That type of thing.."

Zack thought for a moment, before looking up to the ceiling, "You should probably ask everyone else who works here first, but, I'd go for a second floor. You should make like, 7 floors, elevators, and at each floor something different was sold? That type of thing?"

"Um... What type of things would I sell that would be different on each floor?"

"Like, the top floor should be for the bar, like, y'know _The Seventh Heaven Bar_ type thing. The 6th floor should be... Either a resting place, or a food place. OH! Fancy restaurant is the 6th floor, okay?! 5th floor has to be a sweets shop, because you know, drunk people should eat sweets, definitely."

"Uh... Liquor and sweets do _not_ work well together..." Tifa pointed out.

"Hush and let me speak woman!" Zack shooshed his boss and went back to thinking, "So the 5th floor has to be sweets. The 4th floor should be... Aerith's flower shop. 3rd floor can be spent looking at clothes, the 2nd floor should be the morning coffee shop. And the bar should be the night time bar, y'know?"

"So what about the first floor?"

"This 'ol place right here? The elevator floor, we're gonna have loads of business, so we need elevators all on the sides! So that people can get to their designated floor. Like.. 1 elevator for each floor, and not just having like 2 different elevators that go up to each floor, and blah, y'know?" Zack continued to spew his idea out to his long-term friend.

"I... Think I'm going to need more money if we go through with this.."

"Gotcha!" Zack chuckled, patting his friend and giving her a thumbs up as she walked away. "We're gonna need a lot of workers, like 2 or 3 for each floor! So look for hiring people!"

"Yeah, yeah.."

* * *

Now, with Zack's idea, –from not too long ago– Tifa put _The Seventh Heaven Bar_ into renovations, and booked out a second building for the workers to... well.. _Work_ and continue making money so that their new building can be completed. It'll take a few months, with all the different things that Zack mentioned to place in the bar, but none of the other workers seemed to have minded. And the plan was thus put into action. They were currently working in a small building that worked half as a morning shop for a quick meal and a drink, and at night the same old classic bar that Tifa loved so much. It wasn't too far a walk from the original _Seventh Heaven Bar_ location, since it's just about 5 or so minutes extra to walk down the road, it was still very noticeable, and in the matter of hours, the building flooded with people.

Tifa grinned at all of the people putting her four trusty workers to work. Though she knew that she would need a hell of a lot more help then just this, her first call was going to go to Aerith. Then... An old friend of hers.

Ventus casually took an order from one of the women staring at him with a sheepish smile. She didn't seem to know what she wanted to drink, –or eat for that matter– and Ventus decided to ease her struggle by offering her one of their finest beverages that she seemed to agree with. Soon after, she seemed to struggle with a type of food that she wanted to eat, and Ventus eventually offered up a meal that he thought would suit her nicely. With her agreement, –and payment– he smiled and told her her order would be ready in just a bit, sending her to one of the open seats to wait, and a waiter would be right out with her order.

Zack and Ventus worked the kitchen and the cash register, sometimes, –since there are two cash registers– Axel would assist Ventus if one order takes too long and so forth. Riku would work in the back until enough orders are done, so that he can go and make a round or two, serving the patient customers.

This is how the service went for a good week or so, until Tifa decided to bring in extra help, some new friends and people who applied for a job –which they shouldn't be placed to work until the _Seventh Heaven Bar_ is back up and running, but Tifa figured the 4 boys needed help– and eventually introduced the helpers.

Kairi Kasai, age 19. The youngest of the Kasai family, and Axel's little sister. Namine Mujaki, age 19, and the younger sister of the third worker, Xion Mujaki, age 19, but fraternal twins. Despite the feminine looks of Xion, she was... indeed a boy. Though, Kairi was the oldest out if the three, there was no doubt that Xion was the most mature.

Tifa informed the boys that these three would be working every other day, and only in the mornings and early afternoons, since their classes start in the evenings for now. Once the original building opens back up, they'll be working full-time on the 3rd floor –The Clothing floor– and they'll be staying to themselves and keeping the clothes up to par with what people of all ages look and shop at reasonable prices.

But for now, these three are going to be working as the waiter/waitresses while the four boys do what they have to do in the kitchen, and at the register.

"Thanks for all the extra you've been searching for, Tifa." Zack thanked his dear friend with a huge grin. "We should be pretty damn good until the building is back in order."

"Yeah... And I'm hoping to get another friend to help us once it's up." Tifa mumbled, pulling up a chair to sit next to the cash-register occupied by Zack. "You'd love it, really."

"Who are you trying to get? Aerith? I thought she said yes by now."

"Aerith? Oh, she's not who I'm talking about. Aerith agreed before I can even finish saying what I needed to say. The only problem is her getting to and from here."

"I can drive her, no biggie." Zack waved his hand all kinds of directions, brushing off the mild problem Aerith seems to always have, transportation. "I go to visit her sometimes still anyways, it'd be nice to be able to work with her again."

"Yeppers!" Tifa grinned, "But that's still not who I want here."

"Who do you want here?"

"You're not allowed to know!" Tifa chuckled to herself, causing Ventus to awkwardly chuckle at the cash register just a foot away. Zack raised an eyebrow, honestly curious of what she was talking about, but he figured he wasn't going to get a proper answer for a while, so he should just drop it.

"Okay, Tif. Thanks for that curiosity bump." Zack eventually mumbled, earning a happy nod from his friend.

Tifa casually nodded and stood, looking at the building that was going to come into use for the next few months. _Oh! I can't wait to see what's going to happen next!_

* * *

**I'm not gonna make this story a really long one, just to let you know from the start. It's supposed to be one of my _many_ short and sweet fanfictions, just to be able to get writing ideas out. I have my main story that I want to focus on, but for right now, I just wanna write other stories, for people that have different tastes from my regular Dynasty Warriors stuff. And so, here I am.**

**Also, yeah, I did make Xion a boy for this, since my first impression of Xion was a _guy_ anyways. I'd prefer her as a guy to be honest with you, people might challenge me with that, but if you don't like it... I'm not gonna force you to read it, you don't have to. So! Here I am, and here you are, the people faithful enough to want to keep reading. This story should update pretty quickly, and I should be done the whole thing before February –It's gonna be a really short story****– or something of that sort. I just needed to get the Kingdom Hearts stories rolling again. I'm pretty sure I have two ****–or three****– other stories that needs updating. I'll get on those eventually. **

**Until next time, everyone! Happy reading, and a Merry Christmas to you!**


	2. Chapter 2

Crazy blonde spikes rose from the comforting bed. Unsure of what to do after forcefully being woken up by his loud and alarming phone, the youngest of the Strife family decided to let his phone ring just a bit longer.

_Whoever it is, if they really need me, they'll call back a second time..._

He convinced himself, pushing one of the side buttons to let his phone silently ring, while he tried to go back to sleep. A mere minute later, the phone started up again, feeling louder than it did before, and the blonde groaned all the same.

"CLOUD! COME ANSWER MY PHONE!" The youngest of the brothers called for the oldest, hoping to get the quiet young adult to cooperate with him. "C'MON, PLEASE!" He yelled a bit louder, knowing that eventually, Cloud would wander into his room to do so.

Which, he did, after a few seconds of shuffling around in the hall, trying to figure out if it was Ventus or Roxas wanting his attention for the moment. The moment he went over to Roxas' room, the phone had stopped ringing, but the older brother just stood and stared at Roxas with a small grin. "What's up, Rox?"

"Someone was calling me again, go answer it next time." Roxas mumbled, hiding his face in his pillow and looking away from where his older brother stood.

Cloud rolled his eyes and turned around, softly closing the door behind him as the middle brother, Ventus, came out of his room to greet the brother rather ecstatically.

"Hey!" Ventus greeted, "I'm about to head off to work, you sure you don't wanna see Tifa?"

"I'll... Visit Tifa some other day, it's okay, really, Ventus." Cloud shook his head with a small chuckle. "Really, I will." He added when Ventus gave him a doubtful look.

"Tifa really misses you, and I know she wants you to start working again, but you gotta stay by her side and help her out too. I think it'll be nice to see some old friends hanging out with each other all the time again. It's like how Tifa was so happy to see Zack again–"

"Wait, Zack? Black hair," Ventus nodded, "blue eyes?" Another nod, "looks like a puppy?" Ventus nodded again.

"That's a... Weird way to put it but yeah... I guess you could say that he looks a bit like a puppy, why?"

Cloud shook his head and dug in his pockets for his phone, ready to call up an old friend.

* * *

It's been a few weeks since Cloud decided to call Tifa, and she's been filled with grins and joy, knowing that he would eventually join knowing that his old flame was still around, and working alongside her. He wanted to work alongside the male once more, but something was forcing him to stay back, and of course, Cloud never knew what. So Tifa convinced him to come one morning, one early morning, to come and see the old flame that he had, just for old times sake.

So that's what Cloud did, standing outside the secondary building, waiting for The Seventh Heaven Bar to be completely renovated, right down the road.

_It's not too late to turn around. I can still leave._

Cloud shook his head. Surely he looked like an idiot in the middle of the sidewalk trying to contemplate going into a rather popular shop.

"_**Carry on**_

_**Every one of us every soul inside is bleeding**_

_**Finally the broken silence begins to slip away**_

_**Every pain every tear every breath I take**_

_**Stolen by the darkness but I'm hanging on**_

_**For a morning that will never dawn~**_"

Cloud heard the familiar voice singing, unsure of what to do, he turned to run away, but ran straight into his old friend, Tifa.

"Hey Cloud!" Tifa grinned, dusting off the invisible dirt that may have appeared on Cloud from the collision that she seemed to not be affected from.

"T-Tifa, you–!"

"Tif–" There was a momentary pause, "CLOUD?" Zack practically screamed out of his lungs, "What are you doing here?!" Zack yelled, grabbing onto the blonde's shoulders, "You shouldn't be here! Go home!"

Cloud gave the raven a blank stare, then after a few seconds, it was washed over with complete confusion.

_Why in the world was he trying to send me away?_

* * *

"So why exactly is he here?" Zack found himself asking his female friend. It wasn't that he didn't want Cloud to be in the same area as him –again–, it was just that it's been so long since the last time they've actually been around each other, and it seemed so strange to have the oldest of the Strife brothers beside him again.

Cloud turned his attention to the female in front of him, then over to the raven beside him. "I told her that I wanted to come and visit. I didn't think that it'd bother you much.. And besides... I didn't even know that you were the one that started working under Tifa. I thought it'd just be Aerith and uh.. Terra or someone else." Cloud pointed out, half-lying. Of course he knew Zack was there, and that was the main reason why he wanted to come and visit, but he would have never guessed that Zack would decide to work under Tifa, despite the old friendship that broke so many years ago.

"Oh... Really." Zack nodded slowly, letting his eyes wander to the floor somewhat shamefully. He was never sure of Cloud's actions, and he still had yet to catch on to half of the things the blonde boy has ever told him. "Well... It's nice to see you here though... Wouldn't you agree?.."

Cloud gave an awkward nod and a small smile to his old friend.

"Well! Isn't that good, at least you two aren't arguing or anything with each other. That lets me know that you two got over a lot of problems or whatever you guys went through before, and you're both ready to work with each other!" Tifa chuckled, pulling the pair into a bear hug before running off into the kitchen, leaving the pair of young adults to converse amongst each other.

"So..." Cloud mumbled after a moment of silence, "What...Were you singing earlier? It sounded pretty interesting."

"Oh it was uh..." Zack leaned back in his chair in thought of what he was listening to earlier. "Hmm... What exactly was I singing?" He rubbed his chin in thought, "I think..–Oh! It was _5150 by Nano._ It's really interesting of a song. You might actually like it."

"Oh.. I see. I'll uh, I'll look into that sometime later on today." Cloud nodded, looking down to the ground, "So, um.. Ventus works here, right? Where is he?" He questioned after another awkward moment.

Zack could feel his leg begin to bounce up and down in either anxiousness or anxiety, but whatever it was, was definitely kicking his ass. "Ventus? Ventus... Ventus is ups–..." Zack shook his head and sighed heavily to give himself a moment to think and calm down a tad, "Ventus is in the kitchen with Riku and Axel. They're preparing for the lunch rush.. You know, it's really harsh at that time and all–"

"Yeah I.. I remember." Cloud whispered rather quietly. He was just as disturbed as Zack was, though he didn't show it the same way, the raven's constant leg bouncing seemed to have rubbed off on the blonde himself. Since he wasn't completely sure of how to react, Cloud gave an awkward laugh and shook his head, "H-hey, Zack?"

"Hmm?"

His leg started to bounce even more.

"How's everything going?"

"It's good."

The table that they were sitting at began to shake.

"Oh.. That's good."

"Yeah.."

It felt like either Zack's chair was moving, or the table had begun to shake, but now both of Zacks legs began to shake simultaneously.

"Ah..."

_God someone save this.._

"Hey, Zack, you mind helping Riku and Ventus in the back?" Axel –Zack's new savior of the day– came and patted the raven on the back. "My hands are starting to hurt, and I'm supposed to take the shift at the register today. So.."

"Y-yeah man, I'll take the job." Zack quickly stood and stretched his –somehow aching– bones and waved to Cloud as quickly as possible so that he could get out of there without any other problems.

"I'll see ya in a bit then." Cloud mumbled, waving to the raven as he nodded and ran off. "Man..." Cloud whispered to himself as he looked off to the opposite direction.

"That.. Was painful to watch. You two are horrible to each other." Axel commented, fixing the table the pair were sitting at, and sitting in the seat Zack had not too long ago stood from. "Someone needed to be saved from that, and since you don't work here yet... I decided to get Zack out of that. Ventus told me to call you over, but the three of us all knew how bad that was going to be. Damn..."

Cloud sighed and laid his face onto the table, "It's been horribly awkward between us for ages now. I came to see him, to be honest with you..." He slowly let his eyes close. "Though.. We didn't really end on a good point.."

"What happened, exactly?" Axel raised a curious eyebrow, "Or is that something that I can't really find out about?"

"I'd... Prefer not to tell you, you know? It's... It's just something that happened between him, Tifa, Aerith, and I... And a few others but.. Well.. It's not really secretive but it's just really awkward. I don't know why Tifa would leave us alone like that."

"Do you like Zack?"

Cloud quickly lifted his head to stare at the redhead in front of him, wide-eyed and too startled to answer the question properly. "W-what..?"

"Do you like him?" Axel asked again.

"I-I..."

"It's obvious that someone likes someone between the two of you, and the other doesn't want to admit something, so... Do you like Zack, Cloud? Or does Zack like you? Did he confess to you and you turned it down? Or did you confess to him and he turned you down?" The redhead continued to ask, leaning in with every new question he could think of.

"I.. We.."

"You two dated and one of you thought that it wasn't good so you broke up?"

"No–! It... It's not like that.."

"So what happened?"

"We were just really close friends that did some stupid things... That's all."

"Did you jack each other off?"

Cloud sighed at the persistent redhead in front of him and nodded slowly, "It was something along those lines."

"Oh, if you both know that you're gay, there's nothing wrong with it." Axel shrugged and stood, stretching like a cat, "Besides, we're all adults here. You're old enough to talk over the problems that you two had with each other, right? It's nothing too hard with just sitting down and talking t–..." He paused and looked over to the kitchen, then back to the blonde. "Well... With you two... Talking to each other is like asking someone to shoot you. And it's really painful to watch." He shrugged again, "And– hey, do you have another sibling or something? I really like Ventus but... He's way too giddy for me. I wouldn't be able to want to date him with him going all 'teehee!' every time we talk."

Cloud felt his eye twitch without hesitation, "Roxas is the youngest out of us, but he goes to college. That one that's nearby. Roxas is like... The polar opposite of Ventus, but he's not really one for relationships? I guess..?"

"Sounds like Roxas is gonna be another Kasai family member." Axel grinned to the oldest Strife and gave him a subtle wink. "I gotta start getting the cash register ready, I'll talk to you in a bit man."

Cloud watched as the redhead walked away, and looked down to the table, somewhat upset. What the redhead had said was very true, but the blonde didn't know how to go about any of the actions. He'd honestly love to go and talk to Zack randomly, but after the little game of 21 questions that Axel decided to play, he began to think less of his actions. _No... I'll do it. I'll admit everything all at once, so that Zack doesn't have to worry about me anymore._

* * *

"Hey, Cloud? How much longer are you staying? I could use some help cleaning up the tables and all, while the rest of the boys are cleaning the kitchen." Tifa asked, holding two rags and throwing one into a bucket of water. "Wanna help?" Cloud gave a small nod and reached for the rag in Tifas hand. "Thanks Blondie~."

"No problem..." Cloud felt himself helplessly mumble. "How big is the kitchen that you need 4 people to clean it, anyways?"

"It's uh... not very big at all. Pretty small to be honest. But Riku and Axel are kinda lazy, so Zack and Ventus cleans up after they clean up."

"That's a shocker. Ventus is really lazy... To be lazier than him..."

"Yeah, right? That's what I said. Both Ventus and Zack are lazy as all hell and they still do more than the other boys." Tifa chuckled as she picked up and rinsed out the rag from the bucket before wiping a the table next to her. "Boys will be boys though, after all. You can't force them to do what they don't want to do. Unless it's really needed. You know?"

Cloud nodded without a second thought as to what she could have been saying. Half of his mind was stuck on the fact that he was helping her out for free and it felt like he was letting so much stress go while he was wiping each table with his life long friend from Nibelheim. "Yeah, definitely. Definitely." He found himself agreeing with the girl.

* * *

"So? You gonna clear things up with him or not?" Riku asked Zack as he stuck his hand in the oven to check how clean it was. Sure it wasn't the traditional way, but that's how he's been getting the job done.

"No. Or... at least not now. I need more time to figure out what I really want to say to him. You know... I just– It's Cloud and–"

"Cloud is reasonable. Cloud is mature, and you're in love with Cloud." Axel pointed out, washing off forks and spoons before putting them on the dish-rack. "Cloud really likes you too, so lets end this stupid... Whatever... You two got going on, and get things done, why don't 'cha?"

"I'm going to beat you." Zack grumbled, glaring at the redhead as he threw the sponge into the sink and looked at all the machinery to make sure it was all clean. "I'd love to talk to him, but like I said, I really want to figure out exactly what I want to say to him before I make myself look like a fool."

"You already are a fool!" Ventus laughed out, leaning on the counter conveniently placed next to him. "Besides, do you really think Cloud would care? He loves you way too much and all. It's crazy." He pointed out to the raven.

"He loves me... that much?" Zack felt his face flush a bit too much, and he turned to pull his hair back into a messy ponytail. With his hair the same length as Axel's, they tend to have similar hair styles, but they both normally planned to never have them on the same day.

Today was an exception. Their hair both in messy ponytails and that single strand of hair that neglects even being pulled back into a hair tie of sorts.

"You sure as hell got that right. Anyone can see it, you're not that blind you know." Riku agreed, sighing and picking up his phone from off the counter next to the dirty bucket. "Look, I know your struggles or whatever, but get this job done. Honestly." He shook his head and walked out of the kitchen without another word.

Oh, have we ever introduced Riku properly? I don't believe we have. So we'll do it now, the familiar silverette with the somewhat quick tongue's name is –well, you guessed it– Riku Nagato, age 21. Or as he loves to say, he's _forever 21_, and ever so clever this man is. Riku's a subtle hardworker, to be honest. He's the three C's to the extreme –calm, cool, and collective–, and tries his hardest not to let things get too over the top for him. Riku also grew his hair to a comfortable length –it's getting to around mid-back– and his eyes are a wonderful aquamarine green set of orbs that makes you feel like you'll get lost just looking at them. Similar to Axels' bright jade green eyes.

Anyways, Axel looked over to one of his best friends strange reactions and shrugged as well. "Yeah just uh... get it done. No one is gonna hate you, puppy." He nodded to the pair before grabbing his phone and keys and running out to keep up with Riku.

Ventus stared at Zack questionably, "Should I invite you over to the house? Cloud has the biggest room, and you can take that time to talk to each other properly. Whaddaya say?"

"No it's... too early for that. Give it some time. I need time." Zack gave an awkward laugh and reached over to pat Ventus on his shoulder. "You leave with Cloud first. I'll stay back with Tifa so that I can talk to her for a bit."

Ventus nodded and pushed Zacks hand off of him politely. "Just don't fuck up. We're all rooting for you, man."

* * *

After that, Zack hadn't been able to talk to Cloud again. He couldn't remember where the blonde family lived, or the oldest blonde's number. He was in a complete standstill and it bothered him that he hadn't accepted Ventus ' request to sleep over so that he could do all of that.

However, our new focus is on a pair of teens, one that's already rather familiar in the story, and another, the best friend of this familiar Strife.

Roxas Strife, age 19, and an honest boy. He's the youngest out of the Strife brothers and he's the most real out of the three. He's not hyperactive, like Ventus, and he's definitely not a brooding person, like Cloud. Roxas is a short tempered boy with an arrogant attitude, and little patience but very intelligent. Although, the blonde does have a generous side, as he is sweet to his friends and his siblings, there's still the chance that he doesn't put them before his own actions.

As for his friend, Sora Aeur, also at age 19, he's the lesser of the pair, not quite as smart, he still manages with the blondes' help. He's the kinder of the two, and isn't as easy to irritate, though they both contain rather rash attitudes to people that come off rude. The only difference is that Sora has a kind heart, and he's willing to forgive a lot easier than Roxas is. Which makes people approach Sora before they'd think of approaching Roxas, it becomes a slow and steady process.

"Hey, Roxas, can I come over tonight? My mom and dad are being really weird and all... I don't know if they're going to break up or not but... You know.. Either way, I'd love to see them both happy." Sora awkwardly chuckled, shifting his bookbag on his back and turning to his friend who had just finished putting his books into his messenger bag and searched another compartment for his keys.

"Huh?" Roxas lifted his head to look at his best friend, "You want to what now?" He asked, taking out the car keys and holding them tightly in his hand as he fixed himself up to go outside.

"Can I spend the night?" Sora shortened his earlier question, hoping that his friend would be reasonable, knowing that he's the only one that knows his family problems.

"Oh. Is Vanitas being an ass again?" Roxas questioned, turning on his heels to go outside, Sora in tow.

"N-no, not this time.. Vanitas is off doing his druggie deals and all that..."

"Vanitas is going to get someone killed." Roxas grumbled.

Sora gave an awkward chuckle and shook his head, "It's not that bad, I promise. Vanitas will get better once he finds something that he wants to do with his life–"

"He's not going to find anything better to do with his life. I'm sorry but, I can just tell that that dude's going to be a complete failure–"

"Don't talk about him that way!" Sora frowned, defending his foolish older brother. "Look.. Can I just come over or not?"

"Sure, I don't really care." Roxas pointed out, not noticing his friend's somewhat angry tone as they walked outside and to Roxas' somewhat old Audi –technically it's Cloud's that was a hand-me-down from their parents– and unlocked the doors, hopping into the front seat and tossing his bag in the back. "C'mon, Sora."

Sora nodded and followed Roxas' lead, then leaning back in the passenger seat with a heavy sigh, "Lets just not talk about Vani or my parents or anything, okay? Just normal conversation would work right now."

Roxas chuckled and nodded, putting the key in the ignition and setting the car in reverse, "Yeah, yeah. Sure." He mumbled, looking at the rear-view mirror and placing his free hand on the head of Sora's seat so that he could back the car up properly. "Since this is Cloud's car, he checks every day to make sure that I take care of it. Even though he has that stupid motorcycle that Zack gave him." He groaned, putting the car in drive and turning the wheel so that they could now leave the parking lot. "Sometimes I can't with that guy, y'know? Cloud's just kinda weird sometimes. He does things that bothers me."

"Like what?"

"If you're in love with someone..." Roxas started, glancing over to his brown haired friend for a moment before checking the crossroads to see if the road was clear. "...If you love someone, you should tell them, right? Not fuck them up like how he did."

"What did he do, exactly?"

"What did he–.. Ugh, are you serious?" The blonde groaned, putting the car in second gear, "He went out with your Aunt-Uncle-Cousin-Brother-Sister thing.–"

"My cousin." Sora interrupted.

"Whatever, anyways.. It was the day that Zack confessed to him. But he asked Lion–"

"Leon."

"–...Or – whatever the fuck he wants to name himself, out right across the room, the same room Zack was in. Zack was fucking heart broken. It was the stupidest thing that Cloud could have done, because he felt like he liked Lion–"

"Leon.."

"–Instead." Roxas attempted to finish, sending a quick glare Sora's way before letting out an annoyed noise. "Who does bull shit like that anyways? Lion isn't–"

"_Leooonn._"

"– even a cool person. He looks like a dork, and he's not cool enough for my older brother. No offence to you, of course. Sora." Roxas shrugged off the correction and pulled to a stop at the stop light.

"But, Roxas, it's not like Leon had it all jolly and dandy himself. He was really torn too, after he and Cloud finished whatever it was that Cloud wanted to do. If you want to put the blame on anyone, shouldn't it be on Cloud? He's kinda the one that caused all of this." Sora pointed out, frowning as he caught Roxas' glare his way. "Honestly, Cloud went and called out Leon, 'wanting' to date him..." Sora added emphasis with air quotes, "But that's probably because Cloud wasn't ready to face Zack, wouldn't you think?"

"No. Well... I wouldn't really say that Cloud's the one that's at fault here.–"

"He is! He obviously is! You don't even like how he acted with this situation anyways! You said it yourself!" Sora felt like jumping in his seat, though he wasn't sure if it was in anger or not, but he really felt the need to get out of this car.

"Sora, damn it. I know what I said." Roxas growled, pulling over in front of his house and setting his bright blue orbs on to Sora's face. "We're here." He whispered after taking a deep breath. It wasn't his best intention to try and piss off his best friend.

"Oh." Sora looked around and grabbed his bookbag out of the back seat before quickly undoing his seatbelt and jumping out of the car without a second thought. Roxas sighed and followed after the brunette, leading him into the familiar smelling Strife home.

"Hey, Cloud, Ventus?" Roxas called, hoping for some sort of answer.

"Hey Roxas–" Cloud replied after a moment, shuffling through something up the steps, "can you bring me the broom, please? Oh– and a wet rag?" He called.

Roxas sighed and handed his bag to Sora, pointing to the couch with a reassuring smile, "Sora's here!" He yelled as he went to go do what he was told.

"Oh! H-hey Sora!"

"Hey Cloud!" Sora chuckled out a greeting, knowing how awkward it must be for the older boy. Yet for some reason, he wished that Cloud never tried to date Leon, and left his life out of the other blonde's. He knew that things were going to change, but it was best that even the closest of his friends would not be able to find out the things he's been thinking.


	3. Chapter 3

No, the brunette hadn't planned to do anything involving work, and such a thing never came across his mind until the day that his parents stared at him with stern eyes, telling him nothing but just a few words. "We're no longer planning to pay for your things, you're going to learn to manage your own money." So, with that, the hyperactive –sugar filled– brunette was off to find a job, his blonde friend accompanying him the whole way.

"So wait... Did they just like... Kick you out of the house? Or are they just insisting that you have to start working along with school?"

"I have to... Manage college and work, apparently..." Sora sighed, clinging onto his blonde haired friend and groaning with feigned anger. "I really don't want to do that though... I have so much work to do, and I was already planning on looking more into one of the clubs that the college offers, you know? Why would I want to work..."

"Well, you're _technically_ an adult, you know." The blonde pointed out, petting his friend and ruffling the messy brown spikes. "So why don't you just... You know.. Focus on work and school, and if you can get that situated then you can focus on finding a club?"

"No, Rox!" Sora practically screamed, gaining attention from students on the campus that were walking to their next class, work, club, or dorm room. Sora sighed again and shook his head, lowering his voice, "I really wanted to look at a club. Like Chess or the Video Game club or something! I'll work around that schedule after I have a club so that I can get a job."

"I barely handle my club and college work as it is... Sora." Roxas groaned, "I don't think you'll be able to do as much as you really think you want to–"

"I'll do it. I promise you that I'll do it. If I don't... I'll give you my _PS4_ and... all of my gaming accounts."

"I don't even play games."

"Which is why I'd give them to you! So that I won't get distracted and you won't _play_ anything!" Sora grinned to his friend and gave him a giant bear hug. "Should we start heading home? I can't remember if you had any more classes after your first two today. It's uh... Wednesday, right?"

"I'm free, but I told Cloud that I'd go by the Bar to pick up Ventus so that he can do his doctors thing, apparently. That guy hasn't gone to the doctors in forever."

"You're... driving him there?"

"Ventus doesn't know how to drive." Roxas stated, raising his eyebrow in question as to why the brunette questioned him for his driving expertise. "I'll drop you off by _the Bar_ and come to pick you up later?"

"Oh, yeah sure. I'll be cool with that."

In the end, Roxas dropped Sora off at his house before going to pick up Ventus, since the brunette was freaking out too much over his parents.

* * *

"**_Black, black. Black and blue, beat me 'til I'm numb,  
_****_Tell the Devil I said 'hey' when you get back to where you're from,  
_****_Mad women, bad women, that's just what you are  
_****_Yeah, you'll smile in my face and rip the brakes out my car.  
_****_Gave you all I had and you tossed it in the trash,  
_****_You tossed it in the trash, yes you did.  
_****_To give me all your love, is all I ever asked  
_****_Because what you don't understand is–  
_****_I'd catch a grenade for ya–_**"

"_Okay_ Zack!" Tifa yelled as she slammed her office door closed and made her way over to the raven that could never neglect his daily singing. "Tell me, Zack, what's that song you were singing?"

"_Grenade_." Zack huffed out, pausing his music and turning on the radio next to him and putting the sound on really low so that it wouldn't interrupt their conversation. "The Pop goes Punk version though. The group that sings it is _Memphis May Fire_, thank you."

"Oh, you sound sassy today, Zack. Tell me, what's up?" Tifa asked, pulling a chair up to the raven and sitting, giving the man her undivided attention. "You seem a lot less... Happy about what you're doing, you know? Were you dating someone?"

"This uh... This chick I was with, she just kinda fucked me up this morning, you know? I really don't know how to feel because I feel like I should care, but at the same time... I don't want to–"

"You were dating? WHO?" Tifa pressed for the one answer.

"She–... You remember that girl that works with Reno and Rude..?"

Tifa raised an eyebrow and shook her head, "Cissnei?"

"No.. Not Cissnei. She never agreed to go out with me." Zack sighed, "It's Elena, the one that barely paid attention to me–"

"You fucked up, Zack. She's in love with Tseng. I didn't even know that she knew that you existed."

"Jeez, thanks." Zack shrugged and placed his head on the counter, the feeling of defeat washing over him hopelessly.

"Zack..." Tifa sighed and shook her head, "You're a helpless bundle of goo right now. Break ups are normally really easy for you to get over. Why are you so screwed up now?"

"I don't even think that I honestly cared about her. I might have, but there's a high chance that I didn't. I can't... Tell.. You know?"

"I can tell you something, but I want you to figure it out for yourself, Zackary."

"How do you spell my name, that whole thing?"

"I know you like your name with the 'k'... But I know that it's supposed to be spelled with an 'h', right?"

"Well... Actually, legally, it's supposed to be Zax, but let's not get into that." Zack pointed out, shrugging and closing his eyes. "My parents do some weird things."

"It's Zachary, but with a 'k'!" Tifa argued.

"Aw fuck, Tifa. Jeez." Zack awkwardly chuckled, "Yeah, I guess so. I just like... 'Zack', it sounds a lot better."

"I think it would be pretty cool being called Zax, don't you agree?"

"Zack."

"Zax."

"Zack."

"Zax."

"Zack."

"Zax."

"Zackary." Ventus interrupted the raven pair and rubbed Zack's back as he did so. "Lets stop this stupid argument about your name and figure out something better for you to do."

"Oh, Ventus!" Tifa looked up to the blonde from her seat with a huge grin, as the other raven refused to move from his spot. "I hope you're not leaving all of the work to Riku and Axel, back there!"

Ventus awkwardly chuckled and shook his head. "Is Cloud coming in today?"

"Cloud doesn't work here." Tifa and Zack stated in unison.

Zack opened his eyes a bit to squint, and sighed heavily, "He probably doesn't even want to work here. Or he'll try to work here when the regular Bar is open, but for right now, he's not here. He's not working here."

Tifa raised an eyebrow at the male and shook her head, "It's true, he doesn't, and Zack might be onto something. Cloud might ask me to work here in the future or something." She nodded and grinned to the blonde, "Don't worry your pretty little head with that now, okay? We'll take care of Cloud."

* * *

And take care of Cloud, she did. Cloud found himself looking at the building where he was at, and –now recently forced– to work at for some extra cash that he knew his family didn't need. The blonde opened the door to find the workplace filled with workers taking orders and people occupying the seats. He took in a deep breath to the sweet-smelling aroma and gave a small smile.

_This is where I'll be working from now on, I guess._

Cloud's bright blue eyes lead him to a familiar path, the one that lead to the staff room, to go and familiarize himself with his friend Tifa, once more. As he walked by, he took notice of Axel and Riku who were both taking care of making drinks and sending them to their proper tables, while Ventus stayed at the registers with his goofy and welcoming grin. _Zack must be in the back then.._

"Hey bro! You took the acceptance, I take it?" Ventus greeted as he eyed his older brother walk by. The older blonde made his way past the register with a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm going to go talk to Tifa for a minute, before I come and take up working with you."

"Hopefully you can work the registers with me?"

"I'd hope so." Cloud replied with a chuckle. He made his way back into the staff room to greet the raven haired female with a smile, "Hey, Tifa. Where should I start working at?"

Tifa looked up, completely shocked at the voice asking her to work. "MY GOD!" She screamed, jumping up from her seat. She took a moment to clear her throat and go back to her calm demeanor. "You can start working whenever you wish, I don't mind you working in the kitchen, or helping at the registers for right now. It's the lunch rush so–"

"I got it. I'll help Ventus out then." Cloud nodded, turning on his heels once he received a confirming noise from Tifa. "I'll see you later, Tif."

"See ya later Cloud!"

Cloud made his way out of the staff room and over to where his brother stood, taking an order with a giant smile still plastered on his face. "Thank you, your drink will be at your table in just a few minutes. May I interest you in a dessert to go with that?" He questioned rather innocently, not even faltering the moment the woman told him that she wasn't hungry, "Oh, okay then. Thank you for your time!" The woman nodded and retreated to find a table.

"Hey, Ventus." Cloud greeted, taking his stand next to his younger brother, "Mind showing me what I have to do and all that? Just to get used to being at the register again?"

Ventus chuckled and nodded to his brother, "It's really easy, I gotta admit. All you have to do is push a few buttons that matches the order that they want, it'll automatically do the counting and all of that-"

"Yeah I know that... But when do I ask for the money?"

"After they're finish making their order, silly. We're not overpriced, so you shouldn't get people freaking out about how much they have to pay. These guys are all regulars right now."

"Oh, okay. That's cool."

* * *

Zack stared at the door to leave his favorite job. As much as he knew that he didn't want to leave work because he's used to working with everyone here, he felt so awkward having to open up the shop with his long lost friend -Cloud- at the beginning of the day tomorrow. The unwanted feeling that Zack had for whatever he was going to do, left him completely speechless when his boss -Tifa- told him that he'd have to suck it up and meet the blonde outside the shop to open up and get ready for the day. His attitude towards the girl wouldn't help his situation any, so he decided to suck it up and get the next day over with.

"Hey, Zack, c'mere." Axel called from the other side of the door, the raven had been standing there staring off into space for the past few minutes, and Axel was getting impatient. "I gotta close up shop and you're in the way man."

Zack jumped in his startled fashion and gave the redhead an awkward laugh as he ran out the building and watched the other male close up the shop for the night. "Sorry man... I just don't... I'm really not focused right now."

"Too scared to open up the shop with Cloud tomorrow?" Axel raised an eyebrow as he turned and tossed the key to the raven. "I think Cloud was supposed to have this key, but you'll be the one actually opening it, to save you some struggles or whatever."

Zack sighed heavily, "Do you think we'll be able to get over all the shit that we're going through?"

"You're not even going through a lot of shit, man. All you have to do is just talk to the guy, Cloud is really fucking reasonable."

"Well... Yeah but-... I feel like I'm going through so much right now."

"What exactly happened?"

"Several different things... I-I'd hope that you heard at least something from Reno?"

"Reno told me about your confession to him and him flirting with Leon that same day in the same classroom or something like that. He was really blocky about it."

"I told Cloud that I really liked him, that day... That was the start, really. He just awkwardly nodded at me and ran away to Leon." Zack commented, letting the other name unwillingly slither out of his mouth. "A few days later, after him avoiding me, he came to find me at one of the clubs that I participate in, and I have no clue how he got there, but... He told me that he'd want to consider us as a thing. The moment that he told me that though, I got so pissed off and told him that it wasn't even worth it. A week or so later, I went to apologize, and he did the same to me. Then it just went back and forth like that for... Months, really. To the point where we'd only argue with each other about things and.. things got really awkward.. We'd stop talking to each other, we wouldn't look at each other, that type of thing."

"So why did Cloud tell me that it was similar to you guys jacking off to each other that caused awkward shit?"

"Well... it did. Kinda.." Zack sighed and shook his head, "Look man... That's another conversation for another time, I'm not planning to talk about that."

"Oh... Well, okay then man." Axel shrugged and ran a hand through his hair, "I'm gonna head home before it gets too late. You uh-... You do your thing, Zack." The redhead gave one final wave before he left the raven standing there in shock, and of course, Axel cared. He loved both Zack and Cloud, despite only meeting the two through Reno -at two separate times- so he was pretty warm with both. Of course he has no clue as to why he's even bothering with their relationship, since he has nothing to do with either of them. It probably would make him feel better if they were actually a thing rather than arguing all the time.

* * *

Following said redhead home, he ran into Kairi and Reno who both looked completely tired -more like pissed off, but he couldn't care less- and hopeless as they both leaned against the house door.

_Looks like someone forgot their keys._

Axel chuckled and pulled out his keys from his bag that he carries everywhere, and stared at his siblings, "No one was going to come stop by the shop to ask for the keys? Or call me at the very least? How long were you two sitting out here?"

"4 hours. 4 fucking hours, Axel. Don't give me your fucking 'full-of-shit' tongue and just open the door, yo." Reno growled, standing and pulling Kairi up with him. "We bonded while you were out doing your shit, yo. I'm fucking tired and I have work in the morning."

Axel sighed and raised a defensive hand, "okay well... if you'd kindly move away from the door, I'd be more than happy to open it for you." He stated, watching his older sibling move out of the way, and open the door, he did! The siblings wandered into the house, the girl being happier than the oldest, and Axel casually closed the door behind him.

"Thanks Ax." Kairi grinned cleaning off her short pink dress and began to untie her shoes. "So... how are you so awake right now, Ax? You look so happy? It's not... unusual, per se. It's just... a different look for you, you know?" She questioned the brother that was tossing his bag onto the couch near the door.

"We need a dog or something, man." Axel stated, dismissing his sister's question completely. "I'd like a... uh... Sheepdog, maybe? They're pretty big dogs, and hella adorable."

"Did you just say 'hella'?" Kairi instantly asked, ignoring her own question that she made a mental note to bring up again soon.

"Yeah, some type of big dog. I was just thinking that it would be awesome to wake up or come home to a fucking kickass dog or something, you know? I might be a cat person though, maybe. Then again, when I think about it, I'd probably start hating that cat after a while."

Kairi chuckled, "is this why you look so happy right now? Because you're thinking about dogs and cats?"

"Not really.." Axel shook his head and sighed, "It's better to smile when you're upset. Y'know?"

"Why are you so upset then?"

"I... can't figure out what I want to do. I'm stuck between wanting to help someone, and wanting to meet their family."

Kairi stared at her brother with that 'are you serious...?' face. "Ax. Let me tell you something, something that I think will help you..." She cleared her throat and sat for a moment, thinking of the right way to put her words. "Handle one thing at a time, but it's your choice on if you would rather assist someone else before yourself. Or yourself before others. Selfless or selfish, grief or clarity. That's all up to you. So before you do anything else, do what your instinct takes you, regardless... everything gets worse before it gets better."

Axel stared at his sister as if she had turned into the prophecy herself. Of course he'd have to think about it first, and taking things one step at a time seemed to work out just fine. But which step does he really want to take first? If he chooses to help Cloud first, he'd feel awkward asking about the blonde's youngest brother again. Yet, if he asks about the blonde's brother now, the blonde might be too distracted or upset to even pay attention to his question.

Unless...

"Ventus!" Axel cried out, with an even happier grin.

"Ventus?" Kairi raised a curious eyebrow, "Cloud's little brother?"

"I won't need to ask Cloud at all, I can ask Ventus!"

"Why...?"

"They have an even younger brother, your age. His name is Roxas, if I remember correctly-"

"OH! HE ALWAYS HANGS OUT WITH SORA, AND DRIVES A NICE CAR!" Kairi looked as if she had just hit a goldmine, now happy with the clear response. "I know them! I love those two! They're really close with me, and I heard from Sora that he's going to start looking for a job-"

"Wait really? So... if we can hire one..-"

"The other definitely will follow so they can stay together-"

"-I'll get to see Roxas-"

"-I'll be able to work with both of them-"

"-and he'll love me for who I am-"

"-and the whole group can get together there, like a local hang out-"

"-and we'll get married and adopt kids-"

"-and we'll have so much money to spend on each other-"

"-then we'll happily die together-"

"-then we'll be the cool crew at the bar-"

"-It'll be perfect."

"-It's gonna rock."

Kairi and Axel found themselves staring at the other questionably, having no clue what the other was spewing about for the last 2 minutes. The awkward feeling washed over the two of them as they were unsure as to what exactly they should say to the other.

"Uh..." Kairi mumbled, putting her shoes off to the side and giving an awkward shift to her brother, "were you saying that you were going to try and marry Roxas?"

"NO!" Axel shook his head, "I don't even know what Roxas looks like-"

"Roxas looks like Ventus, stupid. They look like twins but Ventus is what... 2 or 3 years older than him? Something like that."

Axel nodded slowly, "So... I'd be hitting on a younger version of Ventus?"

"Pretty much."

"Damn."

* * *

"_**\- And when all your cards are on the table,  
**__**pray the floor is still and stable.  
**__**And when all your cards are on the table,  
**__**Pray the floor is STILL and stable,  
**__**And dance your life away.  
**__**And this war,  
**__**It don't determine who is right  
**__**This war just determines who's left standing tonight.  
**__**Stop handing me lights.  
**__**I can see what you are in the dark just fine,  
**__**and I'm not blind, I'm bending the blinds.  
**__**Peeking through to get a glimpse of your anguishing lights  
**__**You're hiding like a vampire,  
**__**here comes the strife-  
**__**This won't hurt me because I get a thrill-**_"

"_Fame over Demise_ by _Woe, is Me_. Acoustic version, right?"

It was the first time someone interrupted Zacks' songs of the morning, to actually give him the title of the song, or the band for that matter. He wasn't familiar with someone actually having the same taste as him, or knowing the lyrics to some extent, but the moment he turned to Cloud, everything fell into place. "C-Cloud..."

"I remember you showed me them, some years ago. That group and a few others... I uh... I still remember them, and I still listen to a lot of them. That's why that song was really familiar and I was able to-... Y'know..."

"Are we going to play a guessing game?" Zack grinned to the blonde, "I think a daily song and a daily guess at the song would be really fun, to be honest with you?"

"Why do you like to sing at work, may I ask?" Cloud questioned, pulling up a seat to sit next to the raven that was half leaning on the counter next to him. He used that spot as a hangout within a hangout, always leaning on the counter that was closest to the cash register. It was his favorite spot, and honestly no one knew why, but they never bothered to question why he'd always pull up a chair up to the counter next to the cash register and sit there to sing. Sing, out of all the things this one raven could do.

"I just-..." Zack shrugged awkwardly, "Hey, so, remember when I asked Reno if he was gay or not?"

At this, Axel, -who was just a few feet away, cleaning tables to make sure they looked presentable, with Ventus assisting him at the other side of the shop- perked his head up in question and stared at the pair as they went on to talk about his older brother.

"Oh, yeah, I do remember you asking that, why?"

"I asked him that in _high school_. Only yesterday did he tell me that he was, and that he's dating Rude."

"I FUCKING KNEW IT!" Axel screamed, throwing his rag onto the ground, "WOW! HE NEVER TELLS ME A THING ANYMORE!" He added, earning an awkward stare from the pair. "Oh..." Axel cleared his throat and reached down to pick up the rag, "My bad... I'll uh... I'll just go into the kitchen to make sure that Tifa and uh... Riku are okay."

With that, the redhead ran away to retreat into the kitchen, leaving the Strife siblings and Zack alone, once again in the familiar silence. However, within a few minutes, Ventus finished doing the last minute cleaning before the first customer of the day came in, asking for someone to assist them on how exactly to order their first drink and meal without a parent.

To be fair, the first customer of the day looked like they shouldn't even have money, and they had to have been at least fourteen at most. Though, the boy had steele blue hair that covered a single eye, -his right eye- and had to be no longer than chin length. This guy was oddly way too short, and he didn't look like he really knew what he wanted.

"Hey there little guy." Zack greeted, pushing his chair back to the nearest table, and running around the counter so that he could stand behind the cash register to start his job properly, "What can I get 'cha?"

"Uh..." The small boy looked around at the menu, unsure of exactly what he wanted to order from the shop. "I... Don't know."

"Is this your first time ordering stuff without your mom?" Zack questioned, leaning in rather curiously. "Here, let me suggest something for you. We sell a lot of different foods and drinks so... Do you like coffee at all?" The boy shook his head, "so is tea more of your interest?"

"Do you have milk tea?"

Zack jumped at the question, "We sure do! What flavor would you like? Do you want Bubble tea or Pearl tea?"

"Um...Do you have blueberry?"

Zack felt his eye twitch, but maintained his grin none-the-less. "I don't think these types of drinks come in blueberr-"

"Grape. I want a Grape Bubble tea... To go?"

Sigh. "Grape Bubble tea to go, any specific size?"

"Small.. Please."

"Okay, and do you want any specific flavored bubbles?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like uh... Tapioca bubbles or-"

"Yes, Tapioca bubbles as well."

"Okay, that'll be $2.25 please." Zack tried to force himself to grin at this point, but the boy's indecisive choices and responses irritated him in just the slightest. The boy took his moment to dig into his back pocket for his wallet, and gave the raven a raggedy - old 5 dollar bill to pay for the drink. "Would you like anything else? Anything to eat? Yes, no?"

"Oh uh... Do you have any sweets? Anything that adds up to a full 5 dollars, I guess."

Zack stared at the boy for a moment, glancing over to the sweets and other bakery items that were just placed there a few minutes ago. "Lets see.. we don't add tax, so you'll still get some change back, if you don't mind?"

"You don't add taxes?"

"I don't add taxes when people buy stuff from me. Don't tell my boss that though." The boy looked over to Cloud, who had innocently looked away from the situation to pay attention to outside. "He doesn't count though, because he's always on my side, silly." The raven commented, turning the boy's attention back to him. "Do you like muffins? Or red-bean buns? Maybe even cupcakes or a slice of a cake? Do you wanna go French and grab a croissant? Or do you want to go Japanese and grab su-"

"Just a regular sandwich would do. Ham, egg, and cheese."

"Oh, okay... well then. That comes up to $4.50, so-"

"Keep the change."

"Okay then. You can sit in wait, it'll be a minute."

"Sure.." The boy looked around to sit at the closest table, "this is to go, right?" He asked after settling himself down in his seat.

"What?" Zack turned around to look at the boy as he was pouring ice into a cup for the drink. "Yeah. It's to-go."

"Okay."

"Cloud, come here." Zack called pointing to the kitchen as most of his focus was on the drink preparation, "let them know what he wants to eat, please and thank you!" He grinned to the blonde that finally stood from his seat and followed the direction of the pointing finger.

"Yeah sure. No problem." Cloud nodded as he disappeared into the back.

"Are you two a thing?" The boy questioned, the moment Cloud left. Zack instantly jumped and shook his head, looking over to the boy. "Oh... well.. you see, in the college that I go to, there's this guy that I like and... I wanted to be able to make him notice me more-"

"For one.. you're really short." Zack started, letting his eyes go completely bug-eyed the moment he heard the boy say college.

_College? He's old enough for college? To be a part of college? How old is this kid?_

"How old are you?"

The boy shifted in his seat. "I'm... turning 20 in a few weeks."

"Wow. Really? You're not going to grow at all! Clouds youngest brother is taller than you!"

"Ah..."

The pair stayed in silence until Cloud came back holding the breakfast sandwich that the boy has ordered, passing it off to Zack and returning to his normal seat. The raven happily made his way over to the boy and handed off the meal of the day, "I really thought you were a child-"

"-It's okay.. a lot of people do-"

"-so sorry about that... I uh. Well... good luck on trying to get the guy to notice you and all. Let me know how things go!" Zack grinned, full of joy, as the smaller male nodded and made his way to the door.

"Y-yeah.. sure... and thanks for the help."

* * *

Zack nodded subtly and watched the younger boy walk out of the store, signaling for more customers to come into the shop to order some of their favorite drinks and start on for ordering their favorite meals.


End file.
